Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) Short Interest Update

Kinross Gold Co. (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,980,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the December 15th total of 7,450,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 16,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KGC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Kinross Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Kinross Gold from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kinross Gold has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $11.13.

Kinross Gold Stock Performance

Shares of KGC opened at $10.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.21. Kinross Gold has a 52 week low of $4.75 and a 52 week high of $10.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) (TSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Kinross Gold had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 15.23%. Kinross Gold’s revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Kinross Gold will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinross Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Kinross Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinross Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KGC. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Kinross Gold by 5.1% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 13,267,312 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $124,276,000 after acquiring an additional 642,007 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Kinross Gold by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,959,397 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $91,255,000 after purchasing an additional 643,013 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Kinross Gold by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 9,612,585 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $90,022,000 after purchasing an additional 70,376 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kinross Gold by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,758,027 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $72,867,000 after buying an additional 1,777,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in Kinross Gold by 28.0% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 8,567,435 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $80,191,000 after buying an additional 1,871,939 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.69% of the company’s stock.

About Kinross Gold

Kinross Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold properties principally in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Canada, and Mauritania. The company operates the Fort Knox mine and the Manh Choh project in Alaska, as well as the Round Mountain and the Bald Mountain mines in Nevada, the United States; the Paracatu mine in Brazil; the La Coipa and the Lobo-Marte project in Chile; the Tasiast mine in Mauritania; and the Great Bear project in Canada.